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[German Version] I. Literary Theory – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament I. Literary Theory Genres are literary forms. They group multiple texts into a conceptual unit on the basis of formal similarity. Poetics determines the genres of literature and how they are constituted. Both literature and poetics stand within their own autonomous traditions. Therefore the conceptuality of genre, despite intensive interchange between poetics and literature, is not simply a reflection of literature. Every genre, in its particular historical era, represents an inventory of features related to content, style, and technique of presentation, as well an aesthetic value, usually derived from observation of outstanding models. Until c. 1970, it was generally held that these features appeared as ahistorical constants in the form of “genre laws”; more recent scholarship has recognized historical change, extending from the concept of genre itself through the number of genres to their particular subject matter a…

[German Version] (pseudonym: Samuel Greifnson von Hirschfeld; c. 1620, Gelnhausen – Aug 17, 1676, Renchen near Offenburg), one of the best-known poets of the German Baroque (IV). His major opus, the Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus (1668; ET: Simplicissimus, 1999) numbers among the few books of that era that were still being appreciated in the 20th century. This novel, with many sequels by Grimmelshausen himself ( Continuatio; Courasche [1670; ET: The Life of Courage, 2001]; Springinsfeld [1670; ET: Tearaway, 2003]; Vogelnest [Bird's nest]), ¶ surpasses the portions of his other works, likewise bound by his moral and didactic objectives, consisting of satires, religious novels, tractates and calendars. Characterized by humor and narrative talent, he was a proponent of entertaining and educational literature only influenced in a limited manner by humanist claims. Assured information concerning his person stems from the two halves of his life. He held administrative offices in…

[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Epic I. Terminology The literary term epic derives from the Greek literary genre of ἔπος (epic) and is used today as a comprehensive term for all narrative texts…